


time passes.

by cl3rks



Series: even bad wolves can be good. [5]
Category: Fables - Willingham, The Wolf Among Us
Genre: F/M, Minor Violence, Monikers, Took Some Liberties, elements of attempted rape, i just decided to write this, idk - Freeform, reader's name referred to ONCE
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 22:47:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9094120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cl3rks/pseuds/cl3rks
Summary: Little Red was never as young as people thought.





	

**Author's Note:**

> ahhh i took some major liberties with this holy shit anyway woody is more of a bad guy here than our dear old wolfie anyway reader's name is mentioned once (barely) and then-on she's referred to as 'Red' and only 'Red' and Bigby is referred to as 'Wolf' but yeah anyway if you spot any typos let me know [jfc i use the word 'anyway' too much]
> 
> things to know:  
> \- reader is marked as female  
> \- there are elements of attempted rape (or what red thinks will lead to rape)  
> \- bigby watching red (not really creepy, it's more like... investigating?)  
> \- red isn't a kid, red is a young woman (man, i feel like a Woman bah buh dah buh dah)  
> \- time passes weirdly in this but hopefully it's easier to follow??  
> \- kinda dialogue heavy but i think i space it okay  
> \- im sick so sorry if this sucks lmao

Little Red was never truly... _little._ When she was young, he'd lurk, watching her with a curiosity that he'd never felt. 

This human child was trusted to walk through a dangerous forest alone and it made him wonder _why?_ whenever he saw her. He never actually stepped out of the darkness, his glowing yellow eyes watching her from behind often-snowy trees as she looked and whipped her head around. 

Sure, when she started delivering those treats she was little and young and he didn't want to be bothered with her – as people do – and was a fine young woman in no time. 

That was when he saw potential.

“Surely, sweetheart, you shouldn't be walking alone in these woods... especially as it nears nightfall.” He said slowly, his voice trailing around his words like fingers on skin as he stepped closer to her, but not yet out of the darkness. “Don't you think?”

“Who's there?” She asked softly, stopping for a moment to glance behind herself. She was looking for the owner of the voice, but it remained disembodied. “Hello?”

Yellow eyes soon greeted her before the black boots of a man pushed themselves into the snow at the foot of the trees. “What do you call yourself?”

“I could ask you the same.” She said, her voice remaining small even as she attempted to make herself look bigger – more intimidating. The man chuckled at this failed attempt, she looked like a deer about to be slaughtered – peaceful, but watching... always watching. “Will you tell me?”

“I asked you first.” He replied casually, stepping further out of the darkness before the approaching night basked him in a blue just a bit lighter than the black he'd stepped out of. “Go on.”

“Red.” She replied confidently, but her eyes were more curious as they flickered over the handsome features of the man before her.

“Red riding hood?” He filled in, stepping close enough to gently graze her long, deep red cloak with his fingers as he watched her nod. He chuckled once more. “How clever.”

“Now you.” 'Red' told him. He was about to speak when there was a call for her name, and Red turned to look in that direction. “That is my grandmother, I must-” 

When she turned her head back, the man was gone.

She didn't learn his name for some time. She waited and waited, but during the day he rarely came out – she found it was best to wait until night approached.

“Are you there?” She'd call, but she'd get no response. She had a feeling she was being watched, however. On one particular night, she called this out once more and the man showed himself to her. “You are.”

“Hello, Red.”

“Hi.” She said softly, just as her voice had been when they first met. “Tell me your name.”

“We're going off monikers, aren't we?” He asked, she gave a slight nod. “Wolf.”

“Wolf.” Red repeated, weighing the name on her tongue for a moment, looking away as she did before looking back. She smiled a warm smile and nodded. “Wolf it is.”

He raised an eyebrow and watched her go off to her grandmother's.

It wasn't long before he learned her true name – (Y/N). One night, he was bold enough to enter the town at which she often came from. He saw her there, smiling and laughing with another girl and a woman much older than her. He watched her, his eyes calm as he smiled only a little. 

A young man came to her side and she kissed his cheek, smiling and laughing a little more, her cheeks growing warm as he attempted to steal a kiss on upon her lips.

Wolf's eyes grew yellow and glowed with a fierce anger. 

He didn't visit that town again for some time.

They talked more in the woods, short conversations. He started walking her closer and closer to her grandmother's, growing braver and bolder as time passed. They grew comfortable with one another.

Red would call to him, and he would come out.

One night, however, she called for him but it was not the wolf she got.

“Are you there? Wolf, are you?” She called and she heard a rustle, which was unlike him, he was always so quiet. She grinned nonetheless and turned to see a tall man with a beard staring down at her. “You aren't-”

“I'm not.” He replied. The Woodsman, she realized. She'd heard of him. He was holding a sharp ax before he threw it to the ground, the blade landing in the frozen earth as the handle stayed upright. “Who are you calling to, girl?”

“No one.” She replied, stepping back and moving to go around him. She could sense him, the other man, she knew he was there. She was pulling up her hood when the Woodsman grabbed her arm, yanking her back. She fell as he let go, her hood falling back with her as her hair laid inside it. Her basket of treats laid forgotten at her feet. She looked up at him. “What are you doing?”

“People are worried, girl, that you're talking to someone you shouldn't be.”

“People?”

“Your grandmother. Mostly spurred by your mother, I think.” The Woodsman stated, nodding slightly before stepping closer to her. Red went to sit up but fell back again when he bent down, crouching beside her. “They want me to watch you.”

“I don't need it.” She whispered, her eyes wide. She heard a gruff sound and crawled back slightly, even as Woody stood straight and advanced with her. “I can watch myself.”

Yellow eyes were watching the two through the trees. Red's eyes switched to the yellow for a moment, watching them and holding the contact before they switched back to the Woodsman. “Is someone there?” 

Red shook her head. “Nobody.”

“Good.” Woody muttered, leaning down to grab her ankle. Red closed her eyes, trying to think of something to do – he was so much bigger and any fighting could result in something much worse and she... stopped? Yes, she stopped thinking because as soon as that filthy hand grabbed her ankle it was removed. “Argh!”

She opened her eyes, seeing her dear Wolf holding the Woodsman against a tree.

“Go, Red!” Wolf said sharply, turning around to glance at her. She just stayed there, her eyes wide and scared as her body trembled. Wolf turned around once more, his eyes yellow and big and his teeth sharp, his fingernails claws and his ears grew to points and his voice was gruff as he shouted. “Now!”

Red scrambled to her feet, nearly tripping over her hood as she ran, swiping up her basket.

She heard a few yells, and when she turned back Woody was running after her and she feared the worst for her Wolf. Woody, however, was soon enough attacked by the former man as he ran and jumped, keeping the bigger man pinned down.

Red started taking a different way through the forest after that encounter.

She saw less and less of Wolf as time went on – he eventually mistook her for a meal and Woody came crashing down on him once more.

He wasn't as lucky that time, but they'd meet again in Fabletown.

**Author's Note:**

> part five in this series!
> 
> sorry if this was hard to follow? i was trying SO HARD not to refer to bigby AS BIGBY and you, the reader, as red and not (y/n) but yeah whew hope you enjoyed!!


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